


Squip Takes Manhattan

by sassycsap



Series: Be More Chill Incredibles AU [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: M/M, Other, bmc incredibles au, injured rich, it's mostly just fighting, squipped michael, superhero au, there aren't really any ships?, there's a richjake mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 17:57:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11190339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassycsap/pseuds/sassycsap
Summary: The heinous villain known as Squip is seen in New York City. There's only one team for the job.(Spoiler alert: it's the Incredibles)





	Squip Takes Manhattan

**Author's Note:**

> BACKSTORY OF THIS AU:  
> It was created by myself and @heart-select on tumblr (just @heartselect on here i believe)  
> Jeremy has super strength (Mr. Incredible)  
> Michael has ice powers (Frozone)  
> Christine has stretchy/flexibility powers (Elastigirl)  
> Jenna is a shape-shifter, her forms are metal and flames (Jack-Jack, his powers are a little confusing so just go with it)  
> Rich is a FAST BOY (Dash, the reason we started this au lmao)  
> Jake has invisibility/forcefields (Violet)  
> The villain Squip in this AU is just a guy who invented the Squips in an attempt to control the world. So, in my head, he still looks like Eric William-Morris (or Keanu Reeves), but he's an actual person and exists outside of Jeremy's head.  
> ALSO Chloe is Edna Mode but we don't see her in this story tragically  
> I'm keeping Brooke's identity a secret 4 now but you will see her at the end of this story okay here we go!!

“BREAKING NEWS. Anyone in the New York City area is strongly advised to stay in your home and off the streets. The villain known as Squip is currently active in the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen. The NYPD have confirmed he is armed and dangerous. So far, he has injured 13 civilians and 6 police officers, all of whom are in critical condition right now.”

“Jesus. Really?” Michael groaned, standing up from the couch and stretching himself out. He took out his phone and texted the others.

**Michael: that little bitch is in nyc right now**

**Christine: 18 injured, 1 just pronounced dead. I’m on my way**

**Jake: same**

**Jenna: I’m in Harlem, see you in a minute**

**Rich: I’ll race all of you**

**Michael: jeremy**

**Michael: where the fuck you at**

Michael groaned, leaving his basement, then his front door. He jogged to Jeremy’s house, making an ice path to his second-floor window. He tapped on it incessantly. Jeremy pulled the curtains a few seconds later, rolling his eyes and pushing the window open. “What?” he asked, not too thrilled to be seeing Michael.

“Get dressed, we’ve got work to do. He’s in the city; already injured 18 and killed 1.” he checked his phone. “Make that 2. If you ever checked your fucking phone, maybe you’d know that. Aren’t you supposed to be our leader?”

“Sorry, geez. I was asleep.”

“Heroes don’t take naps, Jeremy.”

“This one does.” Jeremy pulled on a pair of jeans, wrapped his sweater around his shoulder and tightened his shoelaces. “Hey, are we ever gonna get real costumes?”

“Why don’t we save the world first and worry about fashion later?” Michael offered.

“Fine. Meet me downstairs.” Jeremy slammed his bedroom door behind him, appearing on the front porch. Michael dropped to the ground from the low roof.

“Are we taking your car?” Michael asked, pointing to the old-ass Honda Civic sitting unceremoniously in the driveway. It was really their only option, as Michael’s had been destroyed on their last mission.

“I figured we would. You’re driving.” Jeremy tossed Michael his keys. The boys got in the car and Michael took out his phone again.

**Michael: update: i have jeremy. we’re on our way**

He rolled his eyes, tossed his phone at Jeremy and slammed on the gas, speeding away. “So, where in New York is he?” Jeremy asked, scrolling through the texts for any clue.

“He was in Hell’s Kitchen when I left the house, but he was on the move and we’re not sure which way he was moving.”

“I’d guess he’s headed east, so we should hit Midtown first so we’re there when he gets there.” Jeremy suggested, starting to type instructions to the team.

“No, I think he’s moving south. We should go to Chelsea and cut him off before he gets too far.” Michael argued.

“Why would he be moving south? Doesn’t he want to go where there will be the most people?” Jeremy was 100% certain he was right.

“Okay, yeah, but he’s not gonna go straight through the Garment District to get there. Not with the cops staked out there. I think he’s gonna cut through Chelsea first and make a big U.” Michael tried to draw his plan in the air.

“But what if he isn’t? Clearly, he’s stronger than the police. Why would he even bother avoiding them?” Michael slammed on the breaks, Jeremy screeched. “What the hell?” he looked up from the phone, Michael was pulling into 7-Eleven.

“Sorry,” Michael fumbled with his seatbelt.

“Seriously, dude? We don’t have time for this.” Jeremy put his palm to his forehead.

“I’ll be quick!” Michael called as he ran inside. He emerged mere seconds later with a slushie. He got back in the car, throwing it in reverse and speeding down the road towards the bridge.

“Okay, so what’s the plan? Chelsea or Midtown? I need to tell everyone where to go.” Jeremy was clearly agitated.

“Let’s split up. Me, Rich and Jake can take Chelsea. You, Jenna and Christine can take Midtown. We’ll move towards each other and hopefully corner him.” Michael strategized, taking a sip of his slushie and running a red light. “Ah, shit. You’re gonna get a ticket for that.”

“Dammit, Michael.” Jeremy grumbled. “Okay, wait. Christine and Jake should go with you, Rich and Jenna should come with me. Rich and Jake won’t get anything done if they’re together.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Michael answered. Jeremy started texting the group from Michael’s phone.

**Michael: hey guys it’s Jeremy**

**Michael: jake, christine and michael are gonna go to chelsea**

**Michael: me, jenna and rich are gonna hit midtown**

**Michael: hopefully we can cut him off somewhere in the middle.**

**Jenna: Last I checked, he’s still in Hell’s Kitchen. Something there held him up. The police scanner said he was moving east**

Jeremy read Jenna’s text aloud. “EAST!” he exclaimed. “I TOLD YOU!” he grinned proudly, crossing his arms.

“Whatever. My plan would have worked better. I should go work for the bad guys,” Michael grumbled.

**Michael: okay, then we’ll all head for the theater district. try to stay between 44th and 50th**

**Christine: My dream come true.**

“Are you sure he’s gonna just cut straight across the neighborhood like that?” Michael challenged.

“Jesus Christ, Michael. At worst, we’ll be a block away. We can walk that far.” Jeremy rubbed his temples. Michael suddenly slammed on the brakes.

“We might have to walk a little further than that,” he pointed to the massive traffic backup going into the city. The police had the Lincoln tunnel blocked off.

“Fuck,” Jeremy whispered. “Guess we’re taking the river,” he looked at Michael hopefully. Michael grumbled and threw the car in reverse, turning them around and driving the wrong way down the one-way they were on. Other cars honked at them, Jeremy screamed. Once they were out of the way, Michael pulled the car to the side of the highway and the boys got out. They looked over the ground below; very far below. With a passive shrug at one another, they stepped up to the ledge. They’d have to be careful; there was a busy street below. They needed an opening.

“Hey!” called a police officer from down the road a bit. “Don’t do it!” he shouted. “This is Jones. We’ve got a couple jumpers down here by the tunnel.” he said into his radio as he advanced towards them.

“Now’s the time,” Michael urged. Without a second thought, Jeremy stepped off the edge. He heard the officer screaming for them to stop. They free-fell for a second before Michael caught them with a thick sheet of ice creating a slope downwards. They slid to the ground, ending up right by the water.

“That could have gone worse,” Jeremy shrugged.

“False alarm, they’re supers.” the police officer grumbled into his radio. “Looks like they’re headed to Manhattan.”

There was only a knee-level fence between them and the open shore. They looked at each other and took one step over the fence. “Wow, they should really protect this stuff better.” Michael commented. They looked at the edge of the water, then at each other.

“Do you trust me?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes,” Michael answered.

“Then I won’t drop you.” Jeremy looked across the water to the city.

“Do you trust me?” Michael asked, swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Yes,” Jeremy answered.

“Then I won’t let us drown.” they nodded at each other. Jeremy picked up Michael piggyback-style, closed his eyes and took a step forward.

His foot hitting solid ground was a shock to him, causing his heart to skip a beat. He slid carefully across the thick layer of ice Michael was creating atop the Hudson. Once he was comfortable, he picked up speed a bit and advanced towards the skyline ahead of them.

Michael brought their path to the opposite shore. Once Jeremy was on solid ground, Michael jumped off of Jeremy’s back. They eyed the high, black fence that was supposed to keep people out of the river. There was a thick chain and padlock holding the gate closed. “Ugh, it’s locked. I guess we’ll have to climb it,” Michael started rolling his sleeves up. Jeremy gave a deadpan expression as he pulled the lock and chain off with his bare hand like he was pulling the tag off of a new sweater. “Or, we could do that.” he mumbled. They passed through the gate.

“That was pretty fun,” Jeremy breathed, looking at the water behind them as the last of the ice melted away. They high fived.

“Okay, now where are we?” Michael looked around.

Jeremy pointed at the closest sign. “12th and 33rd.”

“That’s not  _ too _ far,” Michael shrugged. “Let’s go.” he started running down the block.

“Wait!” Jeremy called after him. Without explaining his plan, he threw Michael’s arm over his shoulder and picked him up, grabbing onto the fire escape of a nearby building. He one-handedly scaled the fire escapes, bringing them to the roof of the building.

“Cute view,” Michael pointed to the sun setting behind the Empire State Building. “What the fuck are we doing up here?”

“We’ll cause less commotion up here. He won’t see us coming.” Michael nodded, starting to form a path across the rooftops as they ran.

“Where the hell are they?” Christine panicked, looking in every direction for the boys.

“I don’t know, but Squip is getting really close,” Rich said, appearing next to Christine after a sprint. “He’s only a few blocks over.”

“Oh, god. Those idiots probably already got themselves killed,” Jenna groaned, cracking her knuckles. “I guess we’re leaving this one to the ladies.”

“Um?” Jake sounded offended.

“Yeah, what the hell?” Rich added.

“You two both know you’re useless.” Jenna barked. They didn’t disagree with her.

“Alright, Jen. Let’s go get this guy,” Christine took off and hung a right, towards Squip’s location. Jenna followed closely behind. Rich was already far ahead. They assumed Jake was with him; but they couldn’t really see otherwise.

Squip was surprisingly on foot, with four brainwashed bodyguards protecting him. He stood safely on the balcony of a nearby theatre, conveniently out of harm’s way as two thirds of the Incredibles rounded the corner. They all skidded to a halt. The normally-populated street was ominously abandoned except for Squip and his friends. With no plan in mind, they charged the entourage full-speed.

Rich circled the bodyguards, taunting and jeering as he ran to throw them off. Jake appeared from out of nowhere behind one of them, pulling her into a chokehold that resulted in her falling unconscious temporarily. He grabbed another one and did the same, this one fighting back a bit harder.

The tallest bodyguard laughed at Jenna when she approached him. She gave a little wave before releasing a blood curdling scream and bursting into flames. This caught him off guard enough to knock him over with ease, standing on his chest and transforming to metal, weighing him down until she felt a rib crack beneath her. She figured that would be enough for him and moved on to the next.

Christine hid and surveyed the situation, carefully eyeing Squip as he watched his bodyguards get their asses handed to them. She noticed he had a weapon at his side; a sort of syringe/dart gun that seemed to be filled with green liquid. It must have been what was brainwashing people. He also had a regular gun, which she assumed was just for self-defense. There was some sort of control panel dangling from his belt, but she couldn’t get a very good look at it.

She carefully stretched her arm up the wall, moving it slowly, but surely towards Squip above. He was distracted; now was her chance.

Jenna and Rich took out the last bodyguard with ease; Rich threw her off her balance so Jenna could crush her.

Like surgery, Christine carefully reached for Squip’s weapon. It was nearly in her hand when he spoke, causing her to coil her arm back to its normal length in fear. “Well, well. Looks like my friends were no match for this lively bunch,” he said condescendingly, taking the control panel from his belt. “What a shame. Good thing my numbers are only growing,”

“Not for long, bitch!” Rich yelled from below.

“Damn, what’s with the b-listers today?” he leaned over the balcony and looked at the three standing close to each other. “Okay, we’ve got the fast one,” he pointed at Rich. “The invisible one,” he pointed at Jake. “And whatever the hell she does.” he pointed at Jenna. “Where are the competent heroes around here?” he chuckled.

“Hey, asshole. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we kinda took out all your little buddies. Suffice it to say, we  _ are _ the competent heroes.” she gave a cocky smirk.

“Aw, did Pretty-boy, Elsa and the Over-Glorified Rubber Glove decide to quit the hero biz? That’s a shame.” he tapped their coordinates into his control panel.

“Okay, first of all, hilarious nicknames. Second of all, you better get down here and fight me like a man!” Jake shouted, backed up with a ‘yeah!’ from Rich.

“There’s no need. Since you’re in such capable hands, I sent a few friends our way.” he crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, snickering to himself.

Roughly 30 squipped civilians turned the corner and started slowly advancing towards the three in the center. Rich rolled his shoulders and got in his running stance, starting to take off. “RICH!” shrieked Jenna. He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

“What? Why are you guys just standing there?” he pointed to the ominous New Yorkers gaining ground.

“Because, idiot, they’re civilians!” Jenna shouted.

“And we can’t hurt civilians,” Jake said like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

“Then what are we gonna do?” Rich shouted, starting to run laps around the squip-zombies to get them to slow down.

“I don’t know, Rich!” Jenna yelled, exasperated. The three backed towards each other in a triangle until their backs collided.

Christine stayed against the wall silently. As long as Squip wasn’t aware of her location, she was safe. She stretched her arm to the top of the building, silently slipping to the roof and looking at Squip from above. She got a good view of his control panel. He was looking at an overhead map of the street. Little blue dots represented his minions, red ones represented Incredibles. He had lines of C++ coding running across the side of the screen, most likely representing their movements. Christine rolled her eyes in remembering that their greatest nemesis was just a huge nerd with a lot of money.

She thought, if she could keep him distracted, she could swipe his weapon. However, she had to distract him in a way that wouldn’t result in him seeing her. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. “Hello?” she picked up.

“Hey, Chris? A little help here?” Jenna panicked from the other line. The zombies were almost upon them.

“Oh, god. Okay, I need a distraction. Can you guys do that? Just be wild and unpredictable.” Christine ordered.

“Guys, she needs a distraction. Everyone go wild!” Jenna passed it on to the boys.

“WOOHOO!” yelled Rich, sprinting off and separating the crowd in all different directions. Jake disappeared, ran into the crowd and randomly started conjuring force fields, throwing squips off their balance. Jenna waited until they all got close and went up in flames, overriding their system due to a “nearby danger”.

Squip’s control panel started to flash red. “What?” he whispered to himself. “What in god’s name are they doing?” he switched off between looking at the supers below to the screen in his hands. “What are they doing?” he shouted through his teeth.

Christine saw her chance. She reached down as quickly as possible, swiped his squip-gun and yanked it onto the roof with her without him noticing. She rejoiced to herself, hugging the gun to her chest. Now, all she had to do was bail her team out of there somehow.

“Jeremy, where the hell are we?” Michael said angrily. “I can only make so much ice-”

“We’re here!” Jeremy interrupted, stopping Michael abruptly. “Look, Christine’s over there!” he pointed to her, two buildings over.

Jenna’s flames flickered out. She looked towards the sky. “C’mon, Chris. We can’t hold them up much longer,” she urged as one of the squip zombies made a clean punch across Jake’s face.

A vast shadow and cold front swept across the block, causing everyone to look up for the source; a large ice bridge forming between the buildings. Two figures slid across, landing atop the building Squip was on, beside Christine. “How considerate of you two to join us,” she said angrily.

“Hey, sorry. We can’t exactly travel as quickly as you guys can. What’s the plan?” Jeremy said, leaning towards Christine.

“There is no plan! We’ve got thirty hostile, squipped civilians we can’t hurt! I have his gun, but-” her voice was covered by a loud, whooshing sound. Jeremy and Christine’s heads snapped to see Michael, sipping his slushie, one-handedly freezing the entire scene below in a massive block of ice.

“Okay, now what?” he said, turning around. Jeremy grinned.

“Wow! Nice job, asshole. Three of our teammates are down there.” she crossed her arms, staring daggers at Michael. Jeremy’s smile faded. Squip was well aware of their presence now, making his way up the building from inside.

“You didn’t mention that!” Michael defended.

“So, what do we need to do?” Jeremy asked quickly.

“We need to get rid of this,” she held up the gun. “And we need to get his control panel. I’m pretty sure there’s a way to un-squip everyone, we just need to find it. And if it’s anywhere, it’s on that little thing he’s always carrying around.”

“Okay. Christine, go destroy that thing. Michael, stick with me. I think we can-” he was cut off by the roof access door swinging open and Squip emerging. Panicked, Christine reached across to the next building over, dropping the squip-gun on the roof so he couldn’t get to it.

“Well, well. You three  _ are _ alive. What a shame,” he smirked. “Your little friends will be so useless without you-” he reached for his squip-gun and felt nothing. “What?” he said, looking around himself for it. The three Incredibles bit back laughter.

“Dude, you don’t have it. Give up,” Michael said, taking a step towards him.

“Oh, but I still have this.” he pulled a real-ass-gun on them. “You’re all mortal, right? I’d really like to have you on my side, but if there’s no other option, I wouldn’t mind killing you.”

A hole melted in the ice wall below. Jenna extinguished herself and looked around. Everybody was totally frozen. She looked up to see Christine, Jeremy, Michael and Squip on the roof. He was pointing a weapon at them. She ignited herself, making a path to Rich. He ceased movement and took a look around. “Woah,” he said. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah, it is.” Jenna replied. “You think you can run fast enough to get up this ice wall? There’s a little slope to it.”

“Oh, _ can  _ I?” Rich asked with a smile, suddenly appearing at the top.

“Cool, now boost me up.” she lifted her arms. Rich pulled her up to the top of the ice block. They ran, sliding off the edge and landing on the concrete below.

“Okay, now what?” Rich asked, looking around.

“I have no idea,” Jenna whispered. “I’m honestly shocked we made it this far.”

“Well, the plan was to just get as many people squipped as possible. Preferably, the entire human race.” Squip said, polishing his gun with his sleeve. “But, like I said, no reason I can’t kill a few kids in the process.”

Christine quickly stretched herself to the rooftop across the way, ducking under the wall as she attempted to dismantle the squip-gun. “You won’t get away with this,” Jeremy said. “Give up. You’ve already lost.” he didn’t know what he was talking about, but hoped he could persuade Squip into giving up.

“That is incorrect. According to my calculations, the odds are still in my favor. It’s still 31 of me against 2 of you.” he chuckled. “Not to mention, I still have this,” he held up a syringe with one dose of the squip serum in it. “So, who’s the lucky winner?”

“Hey, bitch!” Rich shouted. They turned to see Rich and Jenna struggling to the top of the building.

“Really? You again?” Squip rolled his eyes, aiming the gun at them. “Out of my way, b-listers.” he pulled the trigger in Jenna’s direction. She turned herself to metal quickly enough that it ricocheted off her body, hitting Rich in the leg. He fell over, grasping his leg and yelping in pain. Jenna ran to his side, Squip laughed. “You silly humans and your feelings. Soon, you’ll never have to worry about that again.”

“Dude, you have  _ got _ to be the world’s creepiest late night TV infomercial salesman.” Michael put on his advertiser voice. “All this world domination can be yours for the low, low price of your fucking soul.” Jeremy snorted.

“I...honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.” Squip said, pointing his gun at Michael. Jeremy reflexively put his arm out in front of him like a suburban mom in the car. “Aw, how sweet.” Squip said, messing around with the trigger, still clearly pointed at Michael. “You know, I don’t  _ have _ to kill you. You still have options. You could join me,” he bargained, holding out the syringe in his other hand.

“I’d rather die than help you,” Jeremy said through his teeth.

“Not you. Him,” he gestured to Michael.

“Hey,” Jenna said, investigating Rich’s leg wound. “Oh, god. That looks really bad. I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s fine, I’m good,” Rich choked, obviously pained. “Where’s Jake?”

“Oh, god. He’s down there somewhere. He was invisible when we froze him, so he could be anywhere.” Jenna looked around for a plan. They couldn’t stay this close to Squip. They had to get away, but Jenna couldn’t very well just jump off the building.

“I hope he’s okay,” Rich said softly.

“Jesus, Rich! Can you  _ please _ try to sound less like you’re dying? It’s really freaking me out.” her eyes met Michael’s ice bridge between their current building and the one across the way where Christine was. It was melting fast, but it was their only shot.

“Sorry,” he clenched his fist to try and keep the pain at bay.

“Okay, I’m gonna carry you across that bridge, but we have to move. Like, now.” she pointed. Rich nodded, putting his arms around Jenna’s neck. She lifted him bridal-style and started running as fast as she could across the ice bridge. Her feet slipped and slid beneath her, the ice starting to crack with every step.

“Even your friends are fleeing,” Squip said, pointing to Jenna and Rich running away. “You might as well give up now.” he inspected the gun in his hand, cocking it and pointing it at Michael. “What do you say, Michael? We could be a great team.”

Michael took a deep breath, looking from Jeremy to Squip to the half of his team on the building across from them. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Michael reached out his hand for the syringe, walking away from Jeremy’s side and towards Squip. “Michael?” Jeremy choked, tears in his eyes.

Christine stretched her arms out, wrapping them around Jenna and Rich to pull them close to her. “What’s going on over there?” she asked. Jenna was clearly panicked, Rich was still crying in pain.

“He fucking shot Rich. He has another dose of this shit,” she pointed to the liquid in the squip-gun Christine was holding. “We can’t find Jake, and I think Michael is joining Squip.” Jenna shook as she put Rich on the ground.

“Michael, no,” Christine whispered as she watched him inject himself from the building across the way. “We need to get rid of this,” she panicked, holding up the gun.

“Yeah, we do.” Jenna said, taking it from Christine’s hands. She held it above her head, looking for an easy way to dismantle it. Suddenly, what looked like a shard of glass flew between them, slicing the gun in half and releasing the green liquid onto Jenna and Christine. “Shit,” Jenna whispered. “Where did that glass come from?” she looked around for the source of the shard that destroyed the gun.

“We should be fine, right? It only works if you inject it.” Christine said hopefully.

“Sorry to be ‘that guy’, but you both have a shit ton of open wounds. And it wasn’t glass, it was ice.” Rich said from the ground.

“Oh, fu-” Christine started before she fell to her knees, screaming and clutching her head. Jenna did the same a few seconds later.

“Goddammit,” Rich whispered, clutching his leg. “Heal already. C’mon, heal.” he urged his gunshot wound as Jenna and Christine stood up slowly, facing him. They moved in terrifying unison, coming towards him. Rich crab-walked backwards away from them as quickly as he could with only one good leg. The girls followed, swinging and kicking at him as he desperately tried to escape.

Jeremy didn’t know what to do. The only ones left were him and Jake, and he had no clue where Jake was. All he knew was Squip and Michael were right in front of him and they were easily more powerful together than Jeremy was on his own. No plan in mind, he stepped to the ledge and dropped off the building, landing on the solid ice below. It cracked beneath him as he landed, then started to melt rapidly.

He didn’t have much time to think. The ice was melting fast and he knew Michael was doing it on purpose. The squipped civilians thawed out below him, prompting them to start attacking him. He let out an exasperated sound, ducking and dodging the punches thrown by the people around him. A hand came at his face incredibly quickly, hitting his nose with a loud crack. It knocked Jeremy off his balance. He tried to center himself, but his head was spinning as the squip zombies reached out for him, shoving and beating him mercilessly. Each time he got close to recovering his consciousness, another hit could come from nowhere.

He was pushed to the ground, his head hitting against the concrete. He tried to crawl away, but they were only getting faster. From the roof, Squip laughed. “Isn’t it funny? Look how easy he is to get rid of when his buddies aren’t around. He’s useless on his own.” he said. The real Michael, deep behind the lines of computer code running through his head felt sick to his stomach.

“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled at himself. “Jeremy’s dying down there! Do something! Move!” he couldn’t. “He’s gonna die! You’re killing him!” Michael swallowed the lump in his throat.

Jeremy was hopeless. Too weak to stand, not enough time to heal, he curled up on the ground and accepted his defeat.  _ I’m sorry, _ he thought to himself, tears falling from his eyes.  _ I’m so sorry, everyone. I failed you. _ He screwed his eyes closed, waiting for the end.

Then, he was floating. Yes, floating. What the hell?  _ Is this what happens when you die? _ He thought, opening one eye. He was definitely floating, and there was some kind of barrier protecting him from the squips. 

Jake made himself visible, holding Jeremy in his arms. He was creating a forcefield around them, just big enough to keep the two of them safe. “Jeremy? Are you alright?” he asked, his face washed over with concern. He inhaled sharply through his teeth at the sight of Jeremy’s visibly broken nose and dislocated jaw. Blood dripped from his nose into his mouth and he spit it out pathetically.

“Jake?” he choked, his vision blurry.

“Yeah, dude. What do you need? I can get us out of here.” he started moving through the crowd, using all his willpower to keep their forcefield alive.

“I just- need- time,” Jeremy said weakly.

“You got it,” Jake said, pushing through squips to get out of the crowd.

“That’s impossible!” hissed Squip, leaning over the edge of the building. “He was supposed to be dead! I could have sworn I counted. How did I totally miss one of them?” he went back and thought through his process again. “Nevermind,” he grumbled, digging for another dose of squip serum, handing it to Michael. “Go take care of him.” Michael nodded, taking the fire escapes down the side of the building.

“Jake!” Rich called out with all his energy as he watched his friend from over the side of the building. He choked through tears as Christine lifted him off the ground, wrapping her arms around him over and over until he could barely breathe.

“I heard you liked fire,” Jenna growled in a terrifying, robotic voice as she ingited herself and pressed a hand to Rich’s body. He shrieked as Christine dropped him to the ground as he went up in flames. Christine stretched her  right arm to the building where Squip was located, swinging across with Jenna wrapped in her left. They left Rich behind, desperately trying to put out the fire quickly spreading across him.

“Okay, we’re safe.” Jake said once they were clear from the crowd. He took down their forcefield and lay Jeremy gently on the concrete. “Jesus, dude. Are you sure you’re gonna be alright?”

“Yeah, I- heal- pretty quick,” Jeremy had regained enough strength to sit up. “I might need you to set my nose and jaw back in place.” the incredibly squeamish Jake nodded and reluctantly reached for Jeremy’s face. He made a loud, disgusted noise as Jeremy’s nose cracked back into place. He reset his jaw as well, almost barfing.

“That’s the worst thing I’ve ever had to do,” Jake leaned against the wall, clutching his stomach. Jeremy chuckled.

“Hey, man. Thanks for saving me back there,” he said, feeling his face turn back to normal.

“No problem, bro. Any time. That’s kind of our job,” he smiled warmly. “Where is everybody?” he crouched beside Jeremy.

“Oh, right. You were frozen for that.” Jeremy took a deep breath, trying to get himself to his feet. He wasn’t quite ready for that yet, as he fell right back down. “Okay, so. Michael and I got here, Michael froze all you guys down there. Christine had Squip’s brainwashing device thingy and went to destroy it, then I guess Jenna burned herself and Rich out of the ice, but they couldn’t find you.” Jake pretended it didn’t bother him that his friends didn’t even go looking for him. “So, Squip shot Rich in the leg,”

“ _ Shot _ him?” Jake exclaimed. “With a real-ass gun?”

“With a real-ass gun,” Jeremy confirmed sadly.

“Oh my god, is he okay?”

“Then,” Jeremy continued his story. “Michael decided to  _ join _ Squip for whatever fucking reason. Jenna tried to get Rich to safety, but I think all three of them got squipped, too.”

“So, everybody is squipped except for us two?” Jake asked, fear wiping across his face.

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Jake took a deep breath. “Then what are we doing?” he stood up, reaching out for Jeremy’s hand to help him to his feet.

“Stick with the plan. Get the control panel, look for the off switch.” Jeremy said, taking Jake’s hand and standing. His legs were wobbly and hurt immensely, but he tried his best to ignore it.

“You got it,” Jake said, turning himself invisible. Jeremy wasn’t sure which direction he went.

“Jake?” he called out. “Jesus Christ, Jake.” he rubbed his temples. The sound of something hitting the ground behind him caused him to turn around. Michael had landed there, not a hint of guilt in his eyes. Jeremy rolled his neck, shook out his hands and put on his best intimidating face.

“I don’t have time for this,” Michael hissed, shooting a shard of ice towards Jeremy’s head. Jeremy caught it mid-air and crushed it in his fist. A look of shock wiped over Michael’s face. He proceeded by rolling his eyes and giving Jeremy his full attention. “Okay, fine.” he calmly tucked the squip serum in his pocket before running full-speed towards Jeremy, firing more ice shards towards him. Jeremy ducked under them, advancing towards Michael. He clenched his fist like he was going to hit Michael, instead opting to clothesline him and knock him off his balance. Michael fell to the ground, his glasses flying off his face as he took a second to adjust himself.

“You want these?” Jeremy picked up his friend’s glasses, offering them towards the boy on the ground.

“I don’t need to see,” Michael growled in a robotic voice.

“Good,” Jeremy said, throwing Michael’s glasses as far away as he could. It was petty, but it felt good. Michael got up and cracked his knuckles, bringing up sharp ice from the ground and pushing it towards Jeremy. He easily punched through it because, well, it was ice. He played defense, taking down all of Michael’s attacks, but never attacking him.

“What the hell are you doing?” Michael asked angrily, giving Jeremy the best attacks he had. “I wanted a fight! You’re not even gonna try and hit me?”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Michael.” Jeremy said, breaking free of a block of ice forming around his arms. “I know you’re still in there somewhere. If you can hear me, Michael, do something!”

“You idiot!” Michael growled, his voice cracking as if he were glitching out. “There is no ‘Michael’ anymore, there’s only me!” he grew more and more agitated. His attacks became fast, vigorous and random. No strategy, no style. With every second, he became less and less of Michael. It almost seemed deliberate.

“C’mon, dude! I know it’s you!” Jeremy tried desperately. He fought with all he had, but he was becoming weaker and Michael was only becoming stronger.

“Hey, asshole!” Jake yelled, appearing on the roof behind Squip. “Time to fight like a man.” he threw a punch across Squip’s face, knocking him to the ground. He spat pure black blood, turning his head slowly to look at Jake.

“I am so much more than a man,” he started his monologue, standing up. “I control  _ all _ of them. Soon, I will control  _ all _ of  _ everything. _ I will surpass god-” Jake threw another punch, this time at his gut. It sent him to the ground. Squip recovered a bit quicker, getting back up and charging towards Jake.

Squip knocked Jake in the chest, throwing him back without losing his balance. Jake skidded to a halt, running right back towards his adversary and grabbing him by the throat. He raised Squip against the wall, watching him gasp for air. “My database is telling me this isn’t the first time you’ve done this, Jake,” he choked.

“What are you talking about?” Jake didn’t let his guard down, tightening his grip around Squip’s neck.

“According to my intel, you’re quite accustomed to choking your teammate, Rich.” Squip gave a shit-eating grin, kneeing Jake in the crotch. It sent Jake to the ground, yelping in pain. Squip caught his breath as he stepped on Jake’s face, pressing it into the concrete. “Now, hold still,” he said surprisingly calmly as he pulled a clean needle and vial of serum from his jacket. He hastily filled the syringe with the green liquid, injecting it into Jake’s arm as he let out a blood-curdling scream.

_ Jake? _ Rich thought from the opposite rooftop. He’d managed to put the fire out, but he was still suffering terrible burns, a bullet hole, broken bones and a concussion. Needless to say, he couldn’t move. He trembled and sobbed as he tried to yell out for Jake.

“Give up, Jeremy!” Michael shouted breathlessly, his attacks sporadic and glitchy as before. “You will lose,” they both ceased for a second. “This is your chance. Surrender now, and you can join us. If you don’t, I have no choice but to kill you.” Jeremy grew pissed. His hands shook violently.

“ _ Traitor _ ,” he mumbled.

“What?” Michael asked, leaning closer to see if he was giving up.

“TRAITOR!” Jeremy let out a piercing shriek, launching towards Michael and grabbing him by his hoodie. He lifted him off the ground, pulling back his arm to punch him into oblivion. “You’re not Michael. You  _ decided _ not to be Michael. It was your choice,” he choked through tears. “Now it’s time for you to go.” he squinted and started swinging his arm.

“Wait!” Michael shouted, the voice suddenly his own again. Jeremy stopped in his tracks. “Jeremy, it’s me! Please, don’t hurt me.” he begged. Jeremy’s expression softened.

“M-Michael?” he asked gently.

“Yes, it’s me! Put me down, Jeremy. Please!” he pleaded. Jeremy stared at Michael’s face. It  _ was _ him. It had to be. Was it? Was this a trick? No, it couldn’t be. Michael wouldn’t do that to him. But was it Michael? It was. Jeremy let him go, dropping him to the ground. Jeremy turned around, crossing his arms and wiping the tears and blood from his face.

“Why?” he asked firmly.

“I’m sorry, Jeremy. I just-I didn’t wanna die, you know?” Michael moved towards Jeremy, gently putting a hand on his arm. “I knew you could save us,” he smiled genuinely. Jeremy turned around slowly to face his friend.

Before Jeremy could say anything, something wrapped around his body and dragged him away. He tried to see what his bonds were, but he had no idea what this material could possibly be. He was suddenly back on 46th. Thirty squipped civilians coming towards him, led by Jenna, Jake and Christine. Christine took her arms off of Jeremy, returning them to their normal length. They gained ground on Jeremy.

“ _ I’d love for you to join me, Jeremy, _ ” Squip spoke through everyone’s voices in unison. “ _ But honestly, you’re pissing me off. I think I’d rather just kill you. But no, I won’t do it myself. I’ll let your friends do it for me. _ ”

Rich heard everything from the roof. He sobbed silently.  _ I’m so sorry, Jeremy. I’m so sorry. _

Jeremy couldn’t bring himself to hit Christine. He couldn’t bring himself to hit Jenna. He couldn’t bring himself to hit Jake. He was powerless. They gained on him, voices all speaking together. He couldn’t understand what they were saying anymore. It was just noise. A high-pitched sound rang in his ears. He let them down. He let down the world, he let down his friends. It was true; he was useless. Closer and closer. His back hit the wall behind him. Closer and closer.

Then, nothing. All at once. Everything stopped. There was nothing but cold.

\---

Jeremy woke up to a bright white light. Not the hospital kind, not the dying kind. A new kind. He groaned, shielding his eyes as he waited for them to adjust. His eyes adjusted. It was a perfectly square, completely white room. He was alone. There was nothing except his bed. It looked eerily like the solitary confinement cells he’d seen on TV.  _ Oh, god. Have I been a prisoner this whole time? What if I was a criminal and I went insane in here? And all that superhero stuff was just a hallucination? Oh my god. Holy shit. _ He thought, standing up effortlessly. His body had healed up pretty well, considering all it’d been through.  _ Unless it’s been through nothing and I’ve just been in a cell this whole time. _

He paced around the room, looking for any kind of exit. There was nothing. A room. No windows, no doors. A bed. That was it.  _ How did I get in here? Oh, shit. What if I’m in hell? What if this is hell? _ He gasped.  _ Or worse: what if this is heaven? What if this is as good as it gets? _ A section of the wall opened up seamlessly. A girl in a yellow dress with blonde hair walked through the door. It closed behind her, blending into the wall perfectly. “Hello, Jeremy. It’s nice to see you’re up,” she said, folding her hands in front of her.

“Who are you?” Jeremy asked, rubbing his temple. “Am I dead?” she chuckled.

“No, you’re not dead.” she answered. “Why don’t you have a seat?” she offered as two chairs came up from the floor.

“Woah,” Jeremy breathed.

“Seriously?” she asked, crossing her arms. “All the questionable shit going on and you’re excited about a chair?”

“Sorry,” Jeremy mumbled. “What happened? Who are you?” she took a deep breath, rolling her eyes.

“I’m Mirage,” she answered mysteriously. “I work for Squip.” Jeremy scooted away from her. “I  _ used to _ work for Squip.” she corrected herself. “When I found out what he was doing to people, I wanted to help take him down.

The other day, when you fought him, he was spreading his supercomputers left and right. He had control of  _ way _ too many people, and continued by taking control of your friends.”

“Well,  _ some _ of them volunteered,” he passive aggressively addressed Michael.

“Yes. However, your friend Michael didn’t take all of the serum. In fact, according to his physical examination, he only took about half of it. When we spoke to him, he told us that was his plan all along. He would make Squip  _ think _ he had control of him, when he really didn’t.”  _ Shit, that’s actually a pretty good idea. _ “Unfortunately, Michael’s plan backfired. Squip is much more powerful than people think, and usually, his coding can patch itself up if any of it is lost. The same thing happened to Jenna and Christine.” she showed Jeremy a stack of papers that materialized out of nowhere. “According to this, at some point, Michael’s squip switched over to defense mode. This happens when a squip is 100% sure they will be harmed, possibly killed. Usually, it means that person acts like their normal, pre-squip self again for a few seconds, just long enough to neutralize the situation.” Jeremy buried his face in his hands.  _ That wasn’t him, _ he thought. “This happened to Michael at some point. However, since he didn’t have a full dose, he was able to manually override Squips commands from defense mode.” Jeremy lifted his face. “Because of this, he was able to freeze everything, including Squip himself, steal the control panel and get in contact with me, so I could deactivate all the squips remotely.” Jeremy sat there, mouth hanging open.

“Jesus Christ, I am useless.” he pressed his palm to his forehead.

“Well, not entirely. You  _ are  _ the only reason Michael was able to override his squip, which means you did  _ something _ .” Mirage giggled. “At this point, everyone is fine. Rich is still recovering, but he should be fine in a week or two.”

“What happened to Rich?” Jeremy asked, racking his brain for the last time he saw him.

“He didn’t get squipped. However, his bullet wound was infected by the time we got to him and he had somehow broken 3 bones and suffered terrible burns. We’re not sure how it happened yet; he won’t talk about it and the other four haven’t woken up yet. The only ones we’ve seen so far are you and Rich.” Jeremy swallowed the lump in his throat.

“So, it’s over?” he asked quietly.

“Short answer: yes. Squip is in prison, all affected people have now been treated. Long answer: someone out there could have stolen the supercomputer technology by now, considering how widespread it was. So, we’ll just have to keep our eyes open.” she sighed.

“One more question,”

“Hm?” she asked.

“What is your real name? Mirage is  _ definitely fake. _ ” she giggled, which, in turn, made him laugh as well.

“Brooke,” she answered.

“Thank you, Brooke.” he said, extending his hand to shake hers.

“You’re welcome.” she stood up. “I’ll leave you to rest now. If you need anything in here, just think about it. That’s how this place works.” she turned around, the room creating a door for her.

“Oh, cool. Like the Room of Requirement?”

“The what?”

“You know, from Harry Potter?” Brooke shook her head.

“Michael was right; you  _ are _ a nerd.” she exited, the wall falling into place behind her. Jeremy felt himself crack a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> (everyone forgetting about jake in the ice is a metaphor for how the fans forget about jake when he's the REAL HERO HERE)  
> ((that metaphor kinda falls apart at the end there but you get the idea))  
> (((also jfc poor rich?? he's been through a lot)))  
> CONTACT ME VIA TUMBLR @sassycsap I AM ALWAYS THERE!  
> IF YOU WRITE/DRAW ANYTHING BMC INCREDIBLES AU RELATED PLEASE TAG MYSELF @sassycsap AS WELL AS @heart-select BECAUSE SHE'S GREAT AND THIS WAS A TEAM EFFORT  
> ALSO CHECK OUT HER INCREDIBLES ART AND WRITING ON HER TUMBLR  
> THANKS FOR READING I LOVE YOU


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